November 2020 - Mirrors For The Prince

Muslim rulers really need to read Machiavelli’s The Prince

by Mirrors For The PrinceNovember 17, 2020January 12, 2021Uncategorized2 Comments

Although widely recognized as an astute student of statecraft today, Machiavelli has historically been one of the more controversial political thinkers in the Western world. His ideas have been criticized because they are primarily concerned with how rulers attain and augment their power. They do not deal with questions related to the moral exercise of power. As such, the dictators of the Muslim world should pay attention to his ideas because they only seem to care about power as well and have shown no interest in creating governments imbued with any sense of morality or decency. The following discussion is based on George Bull’s translation[1] and will analyze Machiavelli’s ideas in order to suggest what Muslim rulers can learn from Italy’s most infamous political thinker.

The similarities between the political and military situation in Italy that gave rise to the ideas expressed in The Prince and the current political and military dynamics of the Muslim world are quite striking. The Prince was written in response to the fractured nature of Italy’s politics during a time when the French and Spanish were attempting to dominate its smaller and divided city-states. Rather than work together to prevent these powerful kingdoms from subjugating Italy’s city-states, Italy’s rulers pursued policies that prioritized their own short-term retention of power even if doing so allowed powerful outsiders to entrench their dominant positions. This resulted in the effective military control of the Italian peninsula by outside powers during much of Machiavelli’s lifetime. The rulers of the Muslim world have pursued similarly short-sighted policies that have resulted in the complete domination of the Islamic world by the West, Russia, and China. Despite these broad similarities, there are also some important differences.

One of the key differences between Italy during this period and the Muslim world today is that Italy’s problems were mostly political. The political divisions within Italy prevented building armies powerful enough to counter the French or the Spanish. Italian arms were not lacking in technical or tactical skills nor were they weak because Italy’s economy was incapable of equipping Italian soldiers with modern weaponry (by the standards of the time). The military weakness of the Muslim world is also primarily rooted in its weak political institutions and rulers. However, its inability to develop modern economies capable of producing advanced weapons like those made by the West or to competently use the advanced weapons they import are also based on the cultural climate of the Muslim world which discourages critical thinking and the free exchange of ideas. The stagnant intellectual climate of the Muslim world has therefore greatly contributed to its weakness by preventing Muslims from creating strong economies or vibrant educational and research institutions that can develop the minds of its scientists, soldiers, and industrialists. As such, the military weakness of the Muslim world is best viewed as resulting from a combination of political, economic, cultural, and technical factors whereas Italy’s weakness was mostly political.

It is important to keep these contextual factors in mind when discussing how Machiavelli’s ideas might apply to the Muslim world so they can be analyzed with the proper perspective. Yet another factor to note in this regard is that, as referenced above, The Prince does not provide a coherent political philosophy. Machiavelli wrote his book as an attempt to provide advice to one of Italy’s most prominent rulers by providing him with a practical guide about how to retain and augment his power. He did not write The Prince in order to formulate a new political philosophy that could be used to provide the intellectual basis for Italian unity. Nor did he concern himself with greater questions of political philosophy. It is likely he felt that such concerns were irrelevant so long as the ruler in power was strong and just. As a result, he was focused on developing ideas that could substantially increase the power of a ruler. Given his concentration on how to acquire, maintain, and increase power, his advice should be considered indispensable to the rulers of the Muslim world who also care about power over all other considerations.

The Prince is primarily concerned with analyzing “hereditary principalities[2]” in which power is held by one ruler who can pass on authority to a designated heir. Most nations within the Muslim world are best treated as “hereditary principalities” as well since they consist of kingdoms such as Jordan or Morocco or republics ruled by men who act as though they rule over a kingdom instead of a true republic. For example, even though Egypt under Mubarak was officially designated as a republic, Mubarak was grooming his son to take power and governed Egypt much like it was his own kingdom rather than a republic. Egypt’s current ruler, General Sisi, appears likely to continue this trend.

According to Machiavelli, there are two basic types of “hereditary principalities.” The first are those that are governed by a ruler “to whom everyone is subservient[3]” while the second type are those in which the ruler governs with the aid of nobles who do not owe their position to the ruler’s favor. The basic dichotomy described here is between an absolutist political system in which the ruler concentrates as much power in his person as possible as opposed to a feudal system in which the ruler must share power with nobles. In discussing the former, Machiavelli cites to the Ottoman Empire, stating that “the Turkish empire is ruled by one man; all others are his servants[4]” whereas “the king of France is surrounded by a long-established order of nobles[5]” who have their own subjects and are “loved by them[6].” According to Machiavelli, principalities governed like the Turkish empire are difficult to conquer because outsiders cannot manipulate elements within it to support an invasion. An enemy attempting to conquer absolutist principalities must therefore defeat its army in the field before it can assume control whereas an enemy trying to conquer a principality that features an independent nobility will have an easier time conquering it because it can use the nobles against the ruler. Once conquered; however, it is much easier to maintain control over an absolutist principality whereas it is much harder to maintain control over principalities that feature multiple independent power centers. This seems logical since principalities with a powerful nobility will have leaders with their own troops who can resist an invasion even if the ruler falls. While principalities governed by absolutist rulers will have no other power centers that can resist an invasion once the ruler is defeated because no other groups within it have been allowed to accumulate the power to do so. Applying these ideas to the Muslim world, one can see how its absolutist political institutions made it more prone to conquest and colonization once the West was able to develop military tactics and technology that the Muslim world could not match. Once European armies defeated the absolutist rulers of the Muslim world there were no independent power centers that could oppose them. As such, one of the first and most basic lessons today’s Muslims can learn from Machiavelli is that their absolutist political institutions made it easier for Europeans to conquer and colonize them and the continuing prevalence of such political institutions continues to make the Muslim world vulnerable to conquest.

Machiavelli also discusses the various ways that rulers acquire and maintain power. One tactic that rulers often use is to form a client relationship with a foreign power to obtain the support they need to either seize or maintain their power. Machiavelli believed that relying on the favor of a foreign power leads to instability because it makes rulers dependent on the “goodwill and fortune of those who have elevated them[7].” Instead, Machiavelli states that rulers must have their own armies, loyal only to them, and must come to power exclusively by this power rather than using foreign troops[8]. Dependence on foreign military assistance is therefore viewed as a fatal weakness by Machiavelli, one that will often lead to the demise of the ruler. The history of the Muslim world confirms Machiavelli’s views. For example, the only branch of the Hashemite dynasty installed by the British to have survived past its infancy is the one that was able to develop an alliance with local Bedouin and Circassian tribes that gave it the independent military power necessary to ensure its survival. Neither dynasty in Egypt nor Iraq was able to do so, much to their regret. The current leaders of both Iraq and Afghanistan are in the process of learning this lesson as well since neither can rely on their militaries to ensure their power. Their inability to develop military power independent from the United States will likely result in the disintegration of Iraq within the next few decades and the development of an entirely new government in Afghanistan that, at best, will have to share power with the Taliban in the near future.

This illustrates that those Muslim rulers that are reliant on foreign military forces to maintain their regimes should be wary. Machiavelli would argue that you are setting yourselves up for failure and conquest. The Arab nations of the Persian Gulf are particularly vulnerable in this regard. Their reliance on foreign military contractors (a.k.a. mercenaries) to ensure their advanced imported arms remain operable is a serious vulnerability. As is their general reliance on the military power of the United States to ensure their rule. This makes their continued power subject to the whims and fortunes of the US instead of placing their fate in their own hands. Machiavelli’s views on mercenaries[9] and the use of foreign military power highlight a general animosity towards reliance on the aid of others, instead he seems to understand what common sense also dictates: that a nation must be able to rely on itself when it comes to matters of defense. As such, those Muslim rulers that have outsourced this responsibility to a foreign power or are dependent for such matters on the goodwill of another nation must begin to seriously reconsider their policies.

This extends to those Muslim nations that remain dependent on outside suppliers to meet their most advanced defense requirements. The same logic that dictates a ruler must have resort to his own army and cannot be dependent on foreign troops to maintain his power also extends to the conclusion that no military can claim to be powerful until its armaments are manufactured within territories under its direct control. The Muslim world’s dependence on imported weapons is therefore a serious military vulnerability that impacts its ability to prevent the conquest of Muslim nations. Again, the historical record of the Muslim world and its string of military defeats and territorial contraction over the past few centuries confirms this view.

In addition to discussing military matters, Machiavelli also discusses internal political matters. He suggests that there are three main interests a ruler must balance. The people, the nobles[10], and the army[11]. According to Machiavelli, the people are easy to appease because they ask only not to be oppressed while the nobles and the army are the most difficult to placate because the nobles actively seek to oppress the people while the army constantly demands to go to war and will often resort to violence to get its way[12]. In today’s parlance we would replace the word nobles with the word elite, but the same concept applies. The political and economic institutions of the Muslim world are dominated by an elite comprised mostly of its military and large landowning class that have concentrated power in the hands of an extremely small elite which often uses it power to maintain violent control over their people. As such, the rulers of the Muslim world have traditionally come from and served the interests of what Machiavelli would call the nobles and the army. He would likely disapprove of this power structure because he suggests that the first thing a ruler must do to secure power is to seek the friendship of the people as he correctly understands that power is ultimately derived from them[13]. The instability of the Muslim world and the weakness of so many of its governments can therefore be directly attributed to power structures that intentionally marginalize the masses they govern. This is particularly frustrating because Machiavelli states that all a ruler has to do to maintain order is make sure he executes people only when there is good cause to do so and abstain from disturbing the property or women of his subjects.[14] This is consistent with his statement that the only thing people really want is to not be oppressed. Sadly, most of the rulers of the Muslim world have been unable to meet these depressingly low standards. Their inability to check their greedy impulses to steal and enrich themselves and their willingness to use violence against their subjects without proper justification has resulted in the severe oppression of their people. Instead of trying to maintain the friendship of their people as Machiavelli advises, the rulers of the Muslim world have sided with their elites (nobles) and soldiers. This has led to the instability and weakness that has plagued the Muslim world for centuries.

Machiavelli states that one of the key institutions necessary to ensure good laws and governance is a parliament since it alleviates rulers of the need to pick sides with either the people or the nobles. He explains that the nobles and people can use this institution to govern together, stating there is “no better or more sensible institution, nor one more effective in ensuring the security of the king and the kingdom[15].” Although many Muslim nations have governments featuring legislative assemblies, most of them are not adequately empowered to govern their nations as most power is concentrated in the hands of an executive position or within a military/landowner/tribal oligarchy of some sort. As such, the political structure of most Muslim societies concentrates power in the hands of people from its elite and/or military class in a manner that has undermined its ability to develop effective representative bodies, the very institution highlighted as being key to a well governed state and the longevity of the ruler.

Based on their complete disregard for Machiavelli’s advice, the author can only conclude the rulers of the Muslim world have yet to read The Prince. This is unfortunate because they could have benefited from his observations. The fragility of so many Muslim governments proves that these rulers have ignored the advice discussed above to their great sorrow. Those rulers that have survived thus far should not fool themselves into thinking they can ignore the lessons of history either. They have not survived due to their own prowess but rather because fortune has favored them.[16] Eventually fortune will turn as it always does and, given their refusal to adhere to the sensible ideas discussed above, they will likely find themselves unprepared. The author humbly suggests they take some time to read what their former colleagues in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, and far too many other Muslim nations ignored to their detriment or they are likely to suffer similar fates.

[1] Machiavelli, Niccolo, Trans by George Bull. The Prince. Penguin Books. London. 1961.

[2] Id. at 5.

[3] Id. at 13-14.

[4] Id. at 14.

[5] Id. at 14.

[6] Id. at 13-15.

[7] Id. at 20.

[8] Id. at 20-26.

[9] Id. at 39.

[10] Id. at 30-33.

[11] Id. at 60-61

[12] Id. at 31; 60-61; 65.

[13] Id. at 32-33.

[14] Id. at 53.

[15] Id. at 59.

[16] Id. at 20-21.

Why Iran’s proposed alliance with China will be bad for Iran

by Mirrors For The PrinceNovember 11, 2020November 20, 2020Uncategorized5 Comments

It has recently come to light that Iran and China are negotiating a sweeping new agreement to integrate their economies. Though details are scarce, the agreement will likely be similar to the CPEC agreement between China and Pakistan in that it will fund infrastructure meant to integrate Iran into China’s economic orbit. Entering into such an agreement will alleviate Iran’s short-term economic issues but at a serious cost to its long-term strength and independence. Iran is making the same mistake as every other Muslim nation that enters into unequal bi-lateral arrangements with more powerful nations. The power disparity inherent in these relationships creates unequal alliances that puts the weaker party at a significant disadvantage. This results in economic development that decidedly favors the stronger party such as deals to extract oil on terms that are extremely favorable to it. The elites of the Muslim world are happy to enter such arrangements because they benefit from the corruption and bribes used to cement these deals.

If the conservative faction currently running Iran’s government gives in to the temptation to enter into such an agreement, they will be confirming themselves in the same sort of dictatorship that has governed the Muslim world for far too long. Instead of compromising with the progressive elements within their society in order to develop political and economic institutions that can allow Iran to develop its economic resources in a manner that prioritizes the needs of its people, its leaders will skew its development by prioritizing China’s needs. And they will do so in the sort of corrupt manner that will incentivize them to continue using violence and repression to maintain their control of Iran’s government.

Not only would such actions entrench Iran’s dictatorship, they would also prove that Iran’s rulers have no interest in preserving Islamic values or leadership. The Chinese government is actively murdering its Muslim Uighur population in a genocidal campaign designed to facilitate the colonization of Western China by Han Chinese. They have created camps full of innocent Muslim women and children and are in the process of slowly murdering and sterilizing them. Humanity has stood by and done nothing so perhaps it is unfair to blame Muslims for not caring either, but one would think that a country that claims to care so deeply about the Muslims of Palestine would be just as concerned for the well-being of China’s Muslims. The fact that Iran’s conservative faction is likely pushing for the deal is even more galling since they claim to care the most about Muslims and use these claims to justify their usurpation of power. No Muslim should be doing business with China until it has freed every single Uighur from these camps. But those Muslim countries that claim to care about the plight of oppressed Muslims as part of their official government policies should be particularly ashamed.

Muslims do not criticize China out of fear. This fear is rooted in our weakness and this weakness is primarily rooted in our divisions and dysfunctional political institutions. China can easily deal with just one Muslim nation speaking out and since Muslim governments do not work together, they only ever speak as individual nations. Organizations like the Arab League that claim to represent Islamic unity are just vehicles used to create the illusion of unity without any of the substance. But if Muslims finally stood together China would have to take notice. It is only when Muslims learn to stand together that we will be able to stop such atrocities and our strength would be such that we would not even have to resort to violence. If Muslims were united, a conversation would suffice. Instead of turning to a nation that is engaged in the ethnic cleansing of other Muslims to protect itself from the US and Israel, Iran should look to its brothers in Pakistan, Turkey, and Afghanistan for help. And its brothers in Pakistan, Turkey, and Afghanistan should be ashamed that they have not more vehemently offered their help. If these four countries were united as brothers, a conversation would have also put the troubles between Israel and Iran to bed. Instead of working together, Muslim leaders continue to allow themselves to be divided and conquered. The only way to rebuild the bonds of brotherhood that once kept Muslims united is to rebuild the networks of trade, social, and cultural exchange that once turned the Muslim world into a common cultural and economic zone. Rather than negotiating a massive investment deal with China, Iran should be discussing a similar agreement with Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to link their infrastructures and develop the ties that can bind these nations together.

The most efficient way to accomplish this would be by strengthening the rule of law in each country by zealously fighting corruption. This would allow the political institutions of these nations to work together in a transparent manner to help each other prosper through trade. The creation of inclusive political institutions like those that led to the development of the EU would be vital to efforts to integrate Muslim nations as well. Sadly, most Muslim nations are run by governments that will not allow such links or reforms to develop. They prevent these reforms because they are governed by dictators who only care about preserving their power so they can steal as much money as possible. Their greed and shortsighted obsession with control has blinded them to what real power is. The rulers of the Muslim world import luxury cars from Europe and parade around pretending to be royal when they are just thieves. The only difference between a common thief and these rulers is that they have stolen so much money that they were able to buy themselves titles. Instead of working for the betterment of their people and faith, these rulers resort to violence and oppression to maintain their power. The great powers of the world help them stay in power out of a combination of greed and fear of what Muslims would do if they were ever freed from the shackles of dictatorship. Policies rooted in fear and greed can only ever lead to chaos and destruction and that is exactly what has consumed the Muslim world.

If Muslims ever hope to revitalize ourselves, we will need to begin looking inward by examining the cultural and social factors that have led to the current state of affairs. Ultimately, the oppressive governments of the Muslim world are a reflection of its people. In order to correct the issues of governance that have plagued the Muslim world, its people must engage in an intellectually honest debate regarding how best to correct the deep-rooted issues in Islamic societies that have prevented the development of vibrant and effective political and economic institutions. The current authoritarian governments in the Muslim world have prevented this much needed debate from happening and must be significantly reformed before an intellectually honest environment can be created. Until that happens, we will continue to see leaders like those in Iran who sell their souls for power and money. Although the need for reform has been clear for centuries, the absence of an intellectual environment conducive to honest and unfiltered debate has prevented Muslims from correctly analyzing the root causes of our weakness. Out of pride, we refuse to admit that we are a conquered people. We have been so thoroughly thrashed by the West in the ancient conflict between our two civilizations that we do not even think about picking ourselves up from off the floor to rebuild our societies. Since most Muslims cannot even admit defeat, it has been impossible to convince them of the need to implement reforms meant to reverse this defeat. Without serious reforms, our subjugation will never end, and we will continue to see atrocities such as those being perpetrated against China’s Muslim population.

Rather than enter into an agreement with China that will likely use Chinese firms and technical expertise to build its infrastructure, Iran should enter into agreements with its Muslim neighbors designed to improve their technical abilities and economic foundations. Using Iranian, Pakistani, Turkish, and Afghan companies to plan, design, and build the infrastructure that will be necessary to integrate their economies will allow these nations to truly modernize. Instead of importing the machinery needed to exploit its mineral resources from China, Iran should work with Muslim allies to create a free trade zone with each other in which local firms are incentivized to build the equipment and infrastructure needed to modernize. Utilizing local companies would allow investments in infrastructure to benefit the local economy while simultaneously improving the technical skills of their people. Until Muslim nations develop the capacity to build high quality machine tools, construction and mining equipment, fiber optic relays, automobiles, electronics and computer hardware and software, etc., they will always be impoverished. Rather than allow China to import its unprocessed natural resources for its own industrial needs, Iran should build an industrial infrastructure that can turn its natural resources into finished goods, and it should work with Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to accomplish this goal. Though this path is considerably more difficult, it would lead to real and sustained economic and technological development for all four nations. Iran’s potential deal with China is unlikely to lead to the development of these capabilities. Instead, it will probably follow the same path as Pakistan which has used Chinese loans to hire Chinese firms and buy Chinese equipment to build infrastructure China needs without improving its indigenous capabilities.

The economic policies suggested above will not work until Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan build the political and educational institutions to implement and support them and this process will also be extremely difficult. Since the time of the Ottoman Empire, Muslims have consistently relied on foreign capital and technical expertise to build modern infrastructure in their quest to develop industrial economies. In every instance this has led to economic dependence and conquest. While building modern roads and infrastructure are vital for economic development, they are not the most important aspects of modernization. True modernization cannot happen without political and socio-economic reforms meant to empower and educate the masses. The reason most Muslim governments have been so bad at modernizing themselves is because they refuse to share political power with their people. Most of their reforms have only addressed the superficial symbols of modernity while ignoring the foundations upon which such reforms should be based. They have done this because their primary focus is retaining power. Only those reforms that do not threaten their power have been allowed and these have not been enough. Also, using foreign capital removes the need to improve their governing institutions and capacity to generate the tax revenue necessary to finance economic development locally. Again, they have chosen this path because, as counterintuitive as it may seem, improving their governing institutions such as their law enforcement agencies, tax collection agencies, or courts would threaten their power which is based on subverting these institutions in order to maintain their rule. Muslim rulers do not want functioning courts or administrative agencies because they are afraid these bodies may serve as a check on their power. Without the important government services these agencies are supposed to provide, the economic growth the Muslim world so desperately needs will never happen and its people will remain trapped in the same cycle of poverty and disenfranchisement that has ensnared them for centuries.

If Muslim rulers continue on their current trajectories, they will doom their people to slavery, and they will doom themselves to rebellion and weakness. Instead of suffering the fate of the Romanov or Pahlavi dynasties, Muslim rulers must embrace the path of Japan’s feudal rulers who prioritized the well-being of their people and power of their civilization by giving up much of their own power to oversee Japan’s transition to modernity. Muslims must create the democratic political institutions necessary to oversee such change and invest in educational, economic and scientific development if they ever hope to end their subservience to outsiders. As an astute, though cynical, man once noted, rulers that come to power by betraying their fellow citizens through treachery and murder may achieve power, but they will never achieve glory[1]. It is time for the rulers of the Muslim world to start thinking about the glory of their people and civilization rather than just chasing power.

[1] Machiavelli, Niccolo, The Prince, trans. by George Bull. London: Penguin Books, 1961 at pg. 27.

Tagged : Afghanistan / China / CPEC / ethnic cleansing / genocide / Islamic unity / pakistan / pan-islamic / turkey / Uighars

It is time for the Palestinians to surrender

by Mirrors For The PrinceNovember 11, 2020November 20, 2020Uncategorized5 Comments

There was a time when America pretended to be a neutral arbitrator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There was a time when Arab nations that pursued normalization with Israel were ostracized by their fellow Muslims. Those times are now a distant memory and the changing dynamics of this conflict illustrate a simple fact: Israel has overwhelmingly defeated the Palestinians both politically and militarily. This defeat is so complete that there is no chance the Palestinians will ever be allowed to create a viable nation of their own. As such, the two-state solution is no longer a realistic path to peace. The only remaining option that can safeguard the interests of the Palestinians is inclusion in Israel as equal citizens. This is also the only option that will allow Israel to remain a democracy instead of becoming an apartheid state. If Israelis continue to prioritize maintaining their state solely for the benefit of Jews, they will create a new apartheid regime that will ultimately lead to the demise of everything that once made Israel worth fighting for. Both sides can continue down the path of war or they can start to make the tough choices that may lead to peace. As such, it is time for the Palestinians to give up their hopes of having their own state. Instead, they must realize that inclusion into Israel’s dynamic society as equals is their best chance at having a prosperous future. For their part, the Israeli people must realize that their choice to create their nation in the heart of the Islamic world means they must abandon their dream of a homeland exclusively for Jews.

It is therefore time for all armed Palestinian groups to unilaterally lay down their arms and unequivocally renounce the use of violence. It is also time to abandon the façade of the Palestinian Authority and incorporate the entirety of the occupied territories into Israel as an equal and undivided whole. Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority must abandon their governmental responsibilities and allow the Israeli government to assume responsibility for necessary government services in the Gaza strip and the West Bank. In short, it is time for the Palestinians to surrender and abandon all resistance to Israel in exchange for full inclusion into Israeli society.

In order to facilitate the integration of these territories into Israel, the Palestinians should be given their fair share of political power within the structure of the Israeli state so that its Arab communities can participate in its political institutions. Power should be apportioned fairly based upon transparent democratic principles to ensure that political power is fairly distributed among all of Israel’s communities, including its Arab ones. All citizens of Israel should be treated equally under the law and given the same access to educational and occupational opportunities. Discriminatory policies that place Palestinians at a disadvantage with respect to such opportunities must end so that the socio-economic disparity between the two communities can be addressed over time. This can only be achieved by allowing both groups their fair share of political and economic power and access to resources.

The security apparatus of the state will obviously be needed to combat extremists on both sides that will always seek to use violence to justify their continued separation. But the presence of such extremists must no longer be used to rationalize their forced segregation. Instead, they must learn to share their resources and work together for a more vibrant and inclusive Israel.

THE PALESTINIANS HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY DEFEATED MILITARILY

The Palestinians have lost the struggle to create their own state. Despite being at war for decades, they have yet to develop the military capacity to defeat Israel. They are under an effective military blockade that has prevented them from importing the heavy weapons they would need to confront the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Nor do they have the industrial infrastructure necessary to build heavy weapons themselves. Since they cannot build or import the heavy weapons needed to fight the IDF, they do not have the ability to wage a conventional war to secure their freedom.

They have also proven incapable of developing asymmetric warfare capabilities that can challenge the IDF. Their lack of political support in the surrounding Arab states means they cannot use these countries as a base to support a guerrilla campaign. Without support from allies outside Israel they do not have the logistical capacity or territorial depth to wage an effective guerrilla campaign. The terrain and the ease with which Israel can control access to urban centers has also made developing effective guerrilla tactics difficult. Consequently, the only remaining choices are slaughter or surrender.

There is no valor in allowing yourself to be slaughtered, particularly when the battlefield is full of women and children. The only realistic option is therefore surrender. At this point, the Palestinian people and their armed forces, such as they are, have become nothing more than punching bags for Israeli forces. There is no chance the large difference in power between the two sides will change any time soon. As such, it is time for the Palestinians to give up their armed struggle. Instead of waging war, the Palestinian people must commit to only using non-violent tactics to peacefully convince Israelis to change their policies. Doing so will force Israelis to confront the hypocrisy of their policies towards them and finally decide if they would rather live in a democratic state or a Jewish one. By choosing to build their new nation on Palestinian lands, Israelis made it impossible to have both and it is time for them to confront this contradiction.

NEITHER SIDE HAS ACTED LIKE PEOPLE WORTHY OF THE HOLY LAND AND YET BOTH DESERVE SYMPATHY

Both sides have committed barbaric acts of violence against each other. Neither has acted like people worthy of the Holy Land. Israeli security forces have committed serious human rights abuses. It has been a military aggressor on numerous occasions and engaged in the unlawful killing and excessive use of force against civilians. The Palestinians are guilty of equally atrocious behavior, having intentionally targeted civilians on numerous occasions as well. Both sides refuse to see the humanity in each other and have resorted to murdering each other’s children without remorse. As such, both sides must stop pointing fingers and allow for a general amnesty for all parties.

As a Muslim, the author has always sympathized with the Palestinians who have endured decades of military occupation and been forced to live as second-class citizens while having most of their homeland taken from them. However, he also sympathizes with the Jewish people who have seen the worst humanity has to offer and still managed to create a vibrant and powerful homeland for themselves. Israel was not created as part of an expansionist conquest of the Muslim world. It was created because Europeans refused to let their Jewish neighbors live in peace. The desperate souls who began the Zionist movement were not bloodthirsty warriors looking for new land to conquer. They did not choose to return to the Holy Land to seize its riches or capture strategic territory. They returned to Israel because they had no place else to go. Europe’s Jews often had to endure discrimination and violence at the hands of their neighbors. Despite this history, no one could have predicted the scale of the horrors unleashed by the Nazis that eventually led to the industrialized murder of roughly 6 million Jews. Though the Zionist movement predates the Nazis, it was their actions that provided the strongest catalyst for creating Israel.

When Muslims look at Israel and the actions of its people, we must never forget how the evils of the Holocaust shaped their worldview. When we speak of the Holocaust we must not only focus on the evil of the Nazis. We must also understand that the Nazis had plenty of help from people willing to herd Jews into death camps out of nothing more than jealousy and greed. Obviously, the murder of innocents on such a large scale is truly evil. But the complicity of those that helped and the refusal of so many others to stand up for their neighbors simply because they were a different religion is an equally horrific form of evil. After escaping from the horrors of the Nazis, Jewish refugees literally had nowhere to go. Even if migrating to America was an option for some, America during the 1930s and 40s was still tolerant of anti-Semitic views and would hardly have been appealing to someone fleeing anti-Semitic persecution in Europe. The only choice Jews had was to try and create a new homeland for themselves. They chose to create this homeland in Palestine due to the historical connection they felt to the land and because they had no other realistic options.

Muslims often lament that we are paying for the sins of the German people. This might be true, but we are also paying for our own sins. Rather than welcome Jewish refugees as fellow humans in need of help, many Palestinians echoed the same hateful rhetoric of the Nazis, vowing to push them back into the sea. Jewish refugees were not blameless either since many of them brought European attitudes of racial superiority with them. Many viewed their new Arab neighbors with the same sort of colonial disdain as so many other Europeans. Neither community was interested in building a healthy relationship with the other. The poor reaction of the Arabs to their new neighbors, particularly once the stream of refugees increased, likely solidified the feeling among Jews that they could not trust them. At the same time, newly arrived Jews exhibited a level of disregard for the Arabs that could only lead to acrimony and conflict.

This dynamic of mistrust has come to characterize the relationship between Jews and Arabs today and has made solving this conflict considerably more difficult. Despite the bad blood between both communities, they have no choice but to find a way to come together. This should start with a change of attitudes on both sides and an honest reckoning of how the actions and racism of both have fueled their conflict. Muslims must end the hateful and one sided rhetoric that is often used when discussing Israel and acknowledge the extreme historical circumstances that led to its creation by showing compassion towards a people that have seen the gruesome consequences of humanity’s tribalism and violent instincts. Even if one adamantly believes that Israelis have treated the Palestinians unfairly, it is time to accept the reality that there are now over 6 million Jews living in the Holy Land and continually threatening to push them into the sea is counterproductive and cruel. It is time for Muslims to accept responsibility for their role in this conflict by addressing how their refusal to accept their new neighbors caused Israelis to arm themselves and seek to create a state that excluded as many Arabs as possible.

Rather than constantly cast ourselves as victims, Muslims must also realize that our refusal to modernize directly led to the conquest of Palestine. Instead of blaming the poor refugees who, despite their meager circumstances, were able to carve a state for themselves out of the heart of the Muslim world, we must take responsibility for our own shortcomings. Chief among these was our refusal to extend the hand of friendship to those in need during one of humanity’s darkest hours. This is indicative of a culture that no longer has compassion for the weak and no longer strives to protect the most vulnerable among us. By forgetting our core Islamic values and falling into the same trap of hate and selfishness as so many other societies throughout history, we laid the seeds for our own destruction. The same lack of compassion that showed itself in our dealings with Jews returning to the Holy Land has also shown itself in how we treat each other and the sort of governments we create. These governments have been so lacking in compassion and human decency that they have plunged the Muslim world into a cycle of war and poverty from which it has yet to recover. If the Muslim world is ever going to reverse its long decline it must first address the issues within its societies that have caused them to create such violent and repressive political institutions since these are directly responsible for its perpetual state of weakness. It is this weakness that allowed a group of destitute refugees to conquer Palestine.

Israelis must do their part to work towards peace as well by examining how their own conduct has contributed to the current situation. They must address the inherent hypocrisy in creating a homeland for themselves by taking the homeland of the Palestinians. And they must address how their own colonial attitudes have prevented them from working with the Palestinians they have conquered. Although Israel has overwhelmingly won its conflict with its Arab neighbors, it is on a path towards perpetual war because of its refusal to consider the legitimate grievances of the Palestinians. Israelis must realize that creating a just peace is in their interests and that their leverage to negotiate such a peace has never been better. Instead of using their dominant military victory to secure a lasting political settlement with the Palestinians, Israel has continued bullying and beating a Palestinian populace that is essentially defenseless. When Israel was young and vulnerable the tenacious fighting spirit of its soldiers was inspiring. Now that Israel is the dominant military power in the Eastern Mediterranean, it looks more like a bully when it saturates defenseless neighborhoods in Gaza with thousand-pound bombs and artillery shells that have a curious tendency to hit civilian targets.

Unfortunately, Israel’s right-wing government seems inclined to ensure that it remains Jewish at the cost of its democracy. The world has already witnessed the injustice of such a system. It should be obvious by now that political systems designed to exclude people based solely on their race, ethnicity, or religion are immoral and unsustainable. The Israeli people should know better than most how wrong it is to lock people in ghettos while denying them the rights and dignity that all people deserve simply because they are the wrong religion or race. Instead of using the same de-humanizing arguments the Nazis used to justify their treatment of the Jewish people, Israelis must break the cycle of racist fueled violence by starting to consider that their Arab neighbors may also deserve peace and justice.

Facing the horrors of the Holocaust has caused Israeli society to become consumed by fear. This fear has caused them to justify policies and attitudes rooted in the same sort of hatred and xenophobia that the Nazis used to justify their treatment of the Jews. Though vigilance and self-defense are the right of every people, Israelis have used their superior military power to bully the Palestinians based, in part, on racist justifications that have caused them to espouse the sort of values and prejudices that allow them to de-humanize the Palestinians. Rather than use their power to perpetuate war, Israelis should include the Palestinians into their society as equal citizens so that both groups can work to tear down their barriers and learn to live side by side. This is the only way Israel can meet the challenges of the future as a free and democratic society.

Those Israelis that oppose the inclusion of large numbers of Palestinians into their society have only themselves to blame. Israel’s victory has been so complete that it has made creating a viable Palestinian state impossible. If the Palestinians had been able to fight Israel to a stalemate, then perhaps a peace between two equal parties could have led to the creation of a state for each community. But the Israeli defeat of Palestinian resistance has been so complete that no such possibility exists. As a result, the only remaining option is a one state solution.

ONLY PEACE BETWEEN ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS CAN LEAD TO NORMAL RELATIONS WITH THE MUSLIM WORLD

The recent hostility between Jews and Muslims is in aberration in what has historically been a symbiotic relationship that has been referred to as a Judeo-Islamic civilization. Both groups must commit themselves to recreating the bonds that once allowed them to prosper by working to build a new Judeo-Islamic tradition that can allow them to work together. Rather than turn themselves into a European fortress in the heart of the Muslim world, Israelis must embrace the choice their ancestors made to return to the Islamic world by trying to build relationships with Muslims predicated on respect and equality. The improving relations between Israel and various nations within the Muslim world will never realize their full potential or expand to a significant number of Muslim nations until the Palestinian issue is resolved in a manner that reasonable Muslims find fair. Once this happens, both Israel and the Muslim world would benefit greatly from increased trade particularly given Israeli technical expertise in agriculture, IT, and water conservation and desalinization.

Peace would also render Israel’s policy of supporting the Muslim world’s many despots unnecessary. In order to ensure that no groups within the Muslim world can challenge its interests, Israel has supported many of the region’s dictators. Supporting the autocratic and authoritarian governments of its Arab neighbors will eventually backfire in the same way that the covert support its intelligence agencies provided for the creation of Hamas ultimately led to the bloody suicidal bombing campaign of the early 2000s and its invasion of Lebanon led to the creation of Hezbollah. Policies rooted in violence and repression always lead to more violence and intolerance. Likewise, the repressive policies of the Muslim world’s dictators are primarily responsible for the development of extremist non-state actors that refuse to accept the existence of Israel. Their oppression, theft, and horrible economic mismanagement combined with their refusal to give their citizens a voice in their governments are the primary sources of these groups’ appeal and support. Supporting these despots will only lead to more violence and more extremism. Instead of fearing democracy in the Muslim world, Israelis should help to spread it even if that leads to the assumption of power by Islamic oriented groups.

Assuming Israel’s Muslims are being treated fairly, Muslim governments comprised of non-violent Islamists, such as those that espouse Islamic modernists ideals, should present no problems for Israelis. The current animosity between the Muslim world and Israel is primarily based on the cruel treatment of the Palestinians. Once this stops, there will be no reason for continued hostility. Peace between Israel and Jordan and Egypt has not led to warmer relations between their people precisely because most Muslims believe the Palestinians are being treated unfairly. Once this changes, real and meaningful ties between the people of the region can develop.

The changes suggested above will require significant compromises by both parties; however, they also represent the best chance to secure lasting peace. Only ideologies that are inclusive and support the development of democratic institutions that allow for the participation of all Israel’s people can lead to sustainable peace. The policies pursued thus far have not worked because they are based on exclusionary and authoritarian policies. As such, it is time to consider a new path that realistically accounts for the current dynamics of this seemingly intractable conflict.

HOW THE MUSLIM WORLD FAILED THE PALESTINIANS

In closing, the author feels compelled to address the Palestinian people by apologizing on behalf of the Muslim community for being unable to come to your aid. We have failed you. Your brothers in Egypt are ruled by soldiers that care only for wealth and power and have shown themselves to be useless on the battlefield. Your brothers in Jordan are ruled by a man who pretends to be progressive but, based on his actions, also seems to care only about wealth and power. Syria is consumed by civil war because its ruler was so obsessed with these same pursuits that he preferred to slaughter innocent women and children rather than share power with his people. Your neighbors to the north are still rebuilding after the Israeli invasion of their lands and have yet to develop political institutions that can address the needs of their heterogeneous society. As a result, they are in no position to help. The rulers of the Arab Gulf nations are so weak and consumed by greed and their thirst for luxury that they can offer no help either. In order to ensure their fragile hold on power, they have sold you out. Though the leaders of Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan are more sympathetic to your plight, they still refuse to work together and, by themselves, they are too weak to challenge Israel and its American backers. Consequently, you are on your own and the only advice the author can give you is to surrender and seek peace on the best terms you can. Otherwise, you will continue to be slaughtered without pity, forced to live under a brutal military occupation or siege, or forced into poverty and servitude as punishment for your continued resistance. This will lead to the creation of a political and legal system designed to keep you permanently subservient to Israel. The longer you pursue the false promise of your own state, the more entrenched your weakness and servitude will become.

Though the rulers of the Muslim world will jump up and yell whenever they find a cartoon offensive, their refusal to help you proves they do not care about the wholesale imprisonment and slaughter of Muslims in Palestine or in any other parts of the world. Apparently, they find cartoons more offensive than the collective punishment meted out to you. Muslim leaders may “bravely” challenge the hypocrisy of the West and its love for free speech that stirs religious animosities while simultaneously trampling on the freedom of its Muslim citizens to practice their religion, but they can only sit by and watch as Israel’s blockade of Gaza slowly kills its children from malnourishment and disease. They watch impotently as Israel and its allies conspire to keep Gaza besieged while you slowly wither away in your open-air prison. You have suffered enough. Too many of your children have died and too many of your young men are rotting in Israeli jails. Since the rulers of the Muslim world are too busy fighting the evil cartoons of the West, they do not have time to help.

They spend their time yelling about cartoons instead of helping you because this allows them to pretend they care about their religion, but the truth is that all they really care about is money and power. They have refused to implement the deep rooted political and legal reforms their societies need because they refuse to share meaningful power with their people since doing so would make it harder for them to control and steal from them. As such, none of your fellow Arabs or Muslims have been able to develop the military capacity to ensure your freedom. Without serious political and legal reforms combined with increased spending on educational and scientific development designed to improve the critical thinking and technical skills of their people, the Muslim world will never be able to create the sort of culture and institutions that can lead to strong economic growth based on innovation and technological development. Without these ingredients, developing a modern armaments industry is impossible as is building armies capable of competently engaging in modern warfare. Since there does not appear to be any Muslim nation or ruler willing to implement these reforms, there is no hope that any of them will develop the power to help you.

IT IS TIME TO WAVE THE WHITE FLAG OF SURRENDER

The author must therefore beg you to surrender as quickly as you can. In order to ensure that Israel accepts your surrender, you must peacefully stop complying with all laws meant to further your oppression and occupation. Every Palestinian should unequivocally demonstrate the intention to surrender by waving a white flag and taking to the streets completely unarmed to peacefully ask the Israeli government to dismantle its occupation infrastructure and accept you into its country. It is time to trade in the IDF’s checkpoints for unhindered access to all parts of Israel as free citizens. The leadership of all Palestinian factions should lead the way by publicly surrendering their weapons to Israeli authorities. The only way that Israelis can be convinced to abandon their hopes of creating an ethnically and religiously segregated society in which they alone hold power is if you make it clear that you pose no danger to them. As such, all Palestinians throughout Israel must peacefully work together to convince Israelis to let you become equal citizens within their society by stating in the clearest possible terms that you surrender. It is only by having the courage to admit your defeat that you may finally free yourselves.

Tagged : Hamas / Hezbollah / IDF / Israel / Israeli-Palestinian conflict / middle east / Netanyahu / one state solution / Palestine / Palestinian Authority / two state solution